Orchestra Conductor

ORLANDO CELA – Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director

Orlando Cela is the Music Director of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra. A native of Venezuela, Mr. Cela’s experience includes launching the orchestral department at Ningbo University in China and conducting the inaugural concert of the Ningbo City Symphony Orchestra. In the US, his conducting positions include work with orchestras and choruses at Randolph College (VA) and UMass Dartmouth (MA). Guest conducting credits include the Marquette Symphony Orchestra (MI), the Northern Michigan State University Orchestra (MI), and the Brandeis New Music Ensemble (MA). He is currently the music director and conductor of the orchestra of the Governor’s School of North Carolina, with which he has performed world and American premieres by composers like Salvatore Sciarrino, Chen Yi, Hector Parra, Rebecca Saunders, Liza Lim, Alwynne Pritchard, and many others.

A dedicated music educator, Orlando is known for his dynamic workshops and lecture demonstrations. Popular and effective as a guest lecturer and clinician, he has presented sessions on contemporary music topics at Tulane University, Berklee College of Music, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (Germany), and the Charlotte New Music Festival (NC).

As a flute player, Orlando has performed at venues such as the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and the Center for New Music and Technologies at UC Berkeley. His credits abroad include concerts at the Zentrum Danziger (Berlin), the Espace des Femmes (Paris), and at the Central Conservatory of Music (China). As a collaborative artist, Mr. Cela has concertized with flutist Paula Robison, tabla player Samir Chatterjee, harpsichordist John Gibbons, and shen (mouth organ) virtuoso Hu Jianbing. He has presented sessions on contemporary music topics at New England Conservatory, Tulane University, Berklee College of Music, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (Germany), and the Charlotte New Music Festival (NC). Mr. Cela has also lectured on general performance practice issues at flute festivals in Ithaca and Syracuse, and at Dulwich College (Beijing) and Shanghai Normal University.

Orlando received his undergraduate degree from DePauw University, and holds two master’s degrees (flute and conducting) from New England Conservatory.